Zoe, who fell to the ground, shuddered at the roar, and sobbed with fear.

No matter whether she pretended to be pathetic or was really pathetic, she could not move Zhan, nor could she soften Yibo’s attitude.

“Call Fanxing and tell him to get here right now!” Yibo said to Zhan, “Give me your cell phone.”

“Let me help you sit down.” Zhan helped him sit on a chair.

Zhan faced him and frowned as he looked at Yibo’s pale face, “Let’s talk about it later. Let the doctor check you first.”

“I know myself well. It has to be dealt with right now. I can’t wait a second.” Yibo shook Zhan’s hand, showing his determination, “I can’t stand having a dangerous person like her around you, not even one second!”

“Give me the phone.”

Zhan turned his head and looked at Zoe on the ground. The latter looked at Zhan with begging eyes and shook her head gently to ask Zhan not to do it.

“It’s no use asking for help now.” Yibo himself reached into Zhan’s trouser to dig for his cell phone.

Just then, Fanxing appeared at the door of the hospital room, with a flash of surprise in his eyes.

“Mr. Wang…”

“Get here!”

Fanxing had barely spoken two words before he was scolded.

“Mr. Wang, are you awake?” Fanxing’s face was full of smiles, but when he looked at Yibo’s pretty black face, he got nervous. He knew that something was going to happen.

“That’s great. I can’t feel relieved now. Mr. Qiren and his wife are here. I’m going to tell them the good news so they won’t worry.” Fanxing was about to rush away, but he was stopped before he could get away.

“How about getting to the Sahara instead?”

“Mr. Wang… Isn’t this a big joke?” Fanxing wiped his sweat and still smiled. “Even ghosts can’t live there, let alone me.”

“Then just be a ghost,” Yibo said coldly.

“Mrs. Wang…” Fanxing turned to plead Zhan.

Zhan reached out and gently tugged at the corner of Yibo’s hospital gown as a plea.

“What the hell are you doing?” Yibo said disdainfully, “I asked you to take care of Zhan. It that how you take care of him?”

“I… I went to see what is going on with Mr. Qiren.” Fanxing felt like he had neglected something, so he ran back, but it was too late. “I’m willing to be punished, but can you not send me to the Sahara?”

“All right, then send her there.” Yibo glanced at Zoe on the ground and showed no mercy.

Zoe was petrified at that time. She did not want to go to that ghostly place.

She was only twenty, and she didn’t want to end her youth there!

“Mr. Wang, really?” Fanxing frowned softly.

Although he didn’t dare question Yibo, Zoe was Liying’s daughter and Qiren’s stepdaughter, so he had to think twice about it.

“You couldn’t bear to send her there? Then you send yourself there, I’ll find someone else to do that.” Yibo picked up his cell phone and started to call someone.

“Mr. Wang, I am at your service. Why bother others, right? I promise to finish the job.” Fanxing had to take the job, even if Qiren blamed it for him, he had no way out. He would only listen to Yibo.

Fanxing then made a phone call and said, “Bring someone to take Miss Zoe away.”

After Zoe heard this, she could not stand it anymore. She crawled all the way to Yibo’s feet and tugged at the corner of his pants, but Yibo shook her off with disgust in his eyes.

“Bro…”

Yibo’s fierce eyes swept over her, like the chilly wind in December, making her freeze.

“Please, don’t do this to me,” she said, “I really didn’t mean to do it, please…”

Zoe kept begging, but Yibo still did not change his mind.

Seeing that Yibo didn’t look at her, Zoe turned to Zhan. For her own sake, she gave up even the dignity and begged for the person she hated the most.

But Zhan didn’t say a word either, just like he did when Fei was hurt. He also thought that Zoe could change her mistakes, but…

He had thought too much. This kind of person wouldn’t know where they were wrong without punishment, and they wouldn’t correct their mistakes.

When Zoe saw that they paid no attention to her, she burst into tears and choked, “Even if you don’t care about me, my mother and father will not approve of you sending me to a place like the Sahara.”

“What difference does it make whether they agree or not? Do you think they can change my decision? Zoe, don’t be naive. There is only one chance. If you don’t cherish it, you will get double punishments. This is what you asked for.” Yibo’s tone was light, but powerful.

“Give me another chance, I will certainly change myself.” Zoe held up her fingers with a firm look on her face. “I swear I will never offend Zhan or Fei again, I will stay away from them, and I will disappear from where they are, OK? I’ll do what I said. Please don’t send me to the Sahara…”

Zoe was crying her eyes out. She would do anything to save her life.

“What a noise. Did the men come?” Yibo frowned and said, “Take her away.”

Zoe forgot to cry for a second. Her eyes were wide open and her soul seemed to be out of her body.

Fanxing asked the people who were outside to come in and came next to Zoe.

The two tall men grabbed Zoe, like a net that surrounded her.

Zoe’s heart had been falling to the bottom of the valley and was about to be smashed.

“Yibo, Mr. Wang, I beg you, don’t drive me to that place!”

Zoe was completely panicked and her eyes were swollen with crying, but Yibo didn’t show any mercy.

Yibo was obviously impatient and he didn’t want to hear Zoe crying.

Fanxing, who knew Yibo’s mind, immediately winked at the two men, who got Zoe off the ground and kept pulling her out quickly.

“Yibo, you can’t do this to me! Yibo…” Zoe shouted over her shoulder, glaring at Zhan, “Zhan, you bitch. You won’t have a good ending! I curse you to have a miserable end…”

The man covered Zoe’s mouth to prevent her from saying anything that would upset Yibo.

“What are you doing? Release Zoe!” Liying happened to come here and saw two man drag Zoe out.

But when neither of them listened to her, Liying added, “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me? Or will you let her go until I ask Mr. Wang?”

Fanxing stepped forward and said, “Ma’am, it’s not up to you to decide. You’d better stay with Mr. Qiren and not watch this here.”

“Fanxing, you…” Liying gasped, “Who gave you the nerve to touch my daughter?”

When Zoe saw her mother, she seemed to see a savior and asked her to save her with wide eyes.

“It’s me, any problem?” Yibo answered in time and raised his sharp eyebrows.

Hearing the sound, Liying froze, then turned around and said, “Yibo… Are you awake?”

“Yes, I am, I am luckier than my eldest brother. I have not lain down for so many years.” Yibo’s eyes lit up with a smile. “Did I let Ms. Liying down?”

“I… How come? I’m really glad you woke up. Your father passed out because he was too worried about you. He’d be glad to hear the good news when he woke up.”

Liying looked very pale. She felt embarrassed when facing Yibo because Yibo had never shown his stepmother any respect.

“Yibo, what did Zoe do to offend you so that you treat her like this?” Liying changed the subject.

“She repeat her mistakes and has touched my bottom line.” Yibo told her, “You love her and indulge her, but I won’t.”

“Zoe must be confused for a while. Please let her go for my sake. Your father and I will discipline her,” Liying begged.

“I won’t do it give face to my father again and again.” Yibo eyes were deep and merciless. “Scolding won’t work, Punishment is more memorable.”

“Take her away. Mr. Wang needs rest.”

The men were about to take Zoe away when Liying stretched out her arms, “If you’re going to take her away, step on me!”

“Mom, help me, help me!” Zoe bit the hand of the man who covered her mouth, and said, “Mom, they’re sending me to the Sahara. I don’t want to go there! No!”

“Zoe, don’t worry, Mom wouldn’t let you go there. I will save you even if it risks my life!” Liying promised.

“Mom…” Zoe’s tears grew stronger.

“Yibo, I beg you to let my daughter go.” Liying walked over to Yibo and said, “It’s my fault that I didn’t educate her well. I would like to apologize to Zhan for her mistake and take the punishment. Please don’t take her away!”

After that, Liying turned to Zhan and bowed to him. “Zhan, on behalf of Zoe, I apologize to you. I didn’t educate well my daughter. It’s my fault. You’re a mother, too. You should understand my feelings, Zhan… please persuade Yibo. He will listen to you.”

“Ms. Liying, this is none of your business. You don’t need to apologize to me for her.”

Zhan helped her up, “It is true that we are both mothers, but if my daughter does something wrong, I will not protect her. Instead, I would let her realize her mistake and accept the due punishment, take responsibility, and be a person who can correct her mistakes. That’s what mothers should do, and that’s what daughters should do.”

Liying looked into Zhan’s eyes that were pure enough to make her feel selfish, but she couldn’t be so selfless.

“But I can’t.” Liying pressed her lips together, with tears in her eyes.

“You can’t do it, so I’ll do it for you.” Yibo answered for Zhan.

Zoe was dragged out of the room, “Mom, help me, help me…”

Liying watched Zoe disappear in the doorway. “Zoe!”

She then knelt down in front of Yibo, startling Zhan.

Zhan took a step back in horror and looked at Liying on her knees in embarrassment. He did not expect that Liying would put down her dignity to kneel down for her daughter.

But Yibo still didn’t show mercy for Liying’s humble approach.

This showed that Yibo really didn’t take his stepmother seriously and didn’t care about his father’s face.

Zhan frowned and lamented.

Zhan looked at Yibo, who showed no expression at all, as if he was not afraid of anyone misunderstanding him.

But it was his stepmother, and at any rate Liying was his senior. It was not a good thing if others saw a senior kneel down in front of a junior.

Zhan stepped forward, bent down and reached over to help Liying, trying to pull her up from the ground. “Ms. Liying, don’t do that. Please get up.”

Liying still did not get up. She patted Zhan’s hand away and just looked at Yibo.

“Yibo, please let Zoe go. I will teach her a lesson this time, so that she will not dare to be disrespectful to Zhan, I will ask her to apologize to Zhan and shut her at home. Is that OK?” Tears in her eyes, pleading plaintively.

“Or to punish her in a different way, but not in such a cruel way. Throwing a girl in that place will kill her.”

“I only have one daughter. Please let her go.”

“But you have another son, and that’s enough. This daughter isn’t of much use, isn’t it?” Yibo said.

Liying frowned, with deep sadness and pain on her face. “Yibo, it’s all my fault. If you really want to punish her, then let me take it. But I only ask you to spare her and let her stay alive…”

With that, Liying got up from the ground and was about to dash for the wall.

Yibo knew what Liying was up to. He just looked at her back coldly, and said with an extremely cold tone, “Ms. Liying, if you want to die with your daughter, I don’t mind your being so impulsive.”

Liying stopped when she heard this. Her eyes closed in despair and her drooping fingers tightened at her side.

She took a deep breath, then slowly turned around, her eyes sharp as a knife, not as soft and pitiful as before.

“Yibo, you are Qiren’s son, so I been doing my duty in Wang family all these years and have never done anything to embarrass you. Why did you do this to my daughter and me?” Liying stopped groveling and asked Yibo in a cold voice.

“Didn’t you do any wrong? Did you really have a clear conscience when you entered Wang Family?” Yibo’s eyes were cold, questioning Liying.

“Of course.” Liying answered naturally and firmly.

“My brother…”

“Your brother and I didn’t know each other at all.” Liying’s face turned slightly, and she denied it for the first time.

“Yibo,” she said, “live and let live! If you really want to do this to Zoe, I’ll have to tell your father about it and let him handle it.”

“Then you can go.” Yibo didn’t care.

Liying couldn’t be here anymore. She could feel her heart was racing.

She turned and hurried away.

When Liying left, calm returned to the room.

Yibo was relieved and leaned back. He was using all his strength to deal with the issue.

Now that the matter had been done, he was relaxed.

Zhan saw the thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

“Darling, thank you for so protective of me.” Zhan raised his hand and wiped Yibo’s forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.

Zhan knew that Yibo didn’t want him to be wronged at all and didn’t want others to bully him again. That was why Yibo was so ruthless to Zoe.

With the example of Zoe, then no one dared to touch Zhan.

“Who will protect you if not me?” Yibo held Zhan’s hands in his. “I’ll be there for you no matter what happened.”

Zhan nodded.

“How would you explain to your Dad about this?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just leave it to me.”

Yibo’s eyes were fixed on Zhan’s face and he saw the red mark on his left face.

Zhan seemed to see something in his eyes. He got up and said, “I’ll call the doctor for you.”

Yibo took Zhan’s hand and looked at Zhan, whose back was to him,

“What happened to the slap mark on your face?”

“What? Is there any…?” Zhan was not good at lying. “I just got it humped by accident.”

“Why didn’t you hit the brain?” Yibo knew Zhan was lying at a glance, “Tell the truth.”

Zhan couldn’t say it was his father who did it, as that would worsen their already-troubled relationship.

“I’ll tell you when you see the doctor.” Zhan pushed his hand away.

It seemed that Yibo really didn’t have that much strength, so he had to let him go.

Zhan called the doctor, who examined Yibo and said, “He has passed the critical period now, but he still needs time to recover from his injuries. Now he has just woken up, so he is not strong enough. He still needs to rest and recover slowly.”

***

Yibo was arranged in the VIP ward, and Zhan stayed with him all the time.

“What would you like to eat?” Zhan was peeling an apple. “Doctor says you’d better eat some liquid food first, I’ll ask my aunt to make porridge for you.”

Yibo just stared at Zhan closely, and Zhan’s eyes were also on him.

They looked at each other silently.

Yibo’s soft eyes made Zhan’s face hot.

Zhan felt shy and said, “Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?”

“I just wanted to look at you like this.” Yibo’s words were so sweet.

Zhan’s face grew redder, “Be serious.”

“I’m serious, okay? I didn’t really know what fear was until that day when you were caught in a fire. Something fell on me after I threw you out of the house. The moment I passed out I was really afraid I would never see you again.” There was fear in Yibo’s eyes that Zhan had never seen before.

“I didn’t think I’d ever open my eyes and see you again, Zhan, I love you.”

They were just three simple words, but when they came from Yibo’s mouth, they became so touching.

When Zhan heard this, he felt moved, and tears came to his eyes, and then, like broken pearls, his tears fell quietly, which set off his eyelids beautifully.

“What are you crying for, silly boy?”

When Yibo saw that Zhan was crying, he lifted his finger to wipe the tears from his face, “I want you to smile every day when you are with me, not to cry.”

Zhan threw himself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

“These are tears of happiness. Yibo, you know what? I was just afraid as of never seeing you again as you were. Doctor said if you couldn’t wake up in three days, it would be dangerous…

“But I know that you will wake up. You have never let me down, so I believe that you will wake up because you won’t leave us… right?”

“Clever boy,” Yibo wrapped his arms around him, “I have such a beautiful wife, and a lovely girl… And we’re still expecting a son. How could I let you down?”

What son?

Zhan stopped crying and looked at him with clear eyes.

Yibo looked at Zhan’s stupid look and then kissed him on the lips, Zhan grabbed his clothes with both hands, and Yibo whispered, “Close your eyes.”

Zhan obediently shut his eyes and let him kiss his lips.

Yibo’s capturing his in a demanding kiss. His eyes flutter shut as Zhan responds to the kiss, Both opens up into the kiss, tongue darting for a taste. he barely registering the way he’s leaning down and held in place by fingers tangled in his hair.

Not until they were out of breath did Yibo let him go.

Yibo passed his fingers over Zhan’s lips, which is red and swollen from his kiss, and smiled like a child who had stolen candy.

“You don’t care about your health?” Zhan knew what was on Yibo’s mind.

“I would like to die in the hands of such a beauty like you.” Yibo answered.

“You flirt.” Zhan shot him a glance.

“If I am always a serious man, how could we have a daughter, and how could we have a son?” Yibo smiled more and more unbridled.

What was all this nonsense?